Felice Bonetto (9 June 1903 – 21 November 1953) was an Italian
racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...
, who competed in
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
at 16
Grands Prix from to . Nicknamed "il Pirata", Bonetto won the
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo, Sicily, Palermo. Founded in 1906 Targa Florio, 1906, it was the oldest sports car ra ...
in
1952
Events January–February
* January 26 – Cairo Fire, Black Saturday in Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses.
* February 6
** Princess Elizabeth, ...
with
Lancia
Lancia Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe, which is the European subsidiary of Stellantis. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganise ...
.
Born and raised in
Manerbio
Manerbio (Brescian: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, northern Italy. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree on May 14, 1997.
Toponomy
The name ''Manerbio'' derives from Latin ''Miner ...
, Bonetto began his career in
motorcycle road racing before switching to
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and ...
in 1931. He enjoyed a brief Formula One career, racing Italian cars with
Milano
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nearly 1.4 million, while i ...
,
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...
and
Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
, achieving two podium finishes at the
1951 Italian and
1953 Dutch Grands Prix, the former he shared with
Giuseppe Farina
Emilio Giuseppe "Nino" Farina (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Farina won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in its inaugural season with Alfa Romeo, and won ...
and the latter with
José Froilán González. His greatest successes were in
sportscar racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing that uses sports cars with two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be either purpose-built Sports prototype, sports prototypes, which are the highest level in sports car racing; or grand to ...
, winning the
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo, Sicily, Palermo. Founded in 1906 Targa Florio, 1906, it was the oldest sports car ra ...
in 1952, but his career was cut short when he fatally collided with a lamp post whilst leading the
1953 Carrera Panamericana.
Career
Debut and early career
Felice Bonetto was born in Manerbio, which in the province of Brescia, the home of the
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts :it:Franco Mazzotti, Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi. It took place in Italy 24 times f ...
. Despite that, he began to race, very young, on motor bikes. The switch to four wheels came very late to modern standards; he, in fact, already 28 when he participated in the Bobbio-Penice, with a
Bugatti
Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...
. Despite having to make do with cars that not always competitive, but the results were not lacking. In 1933, Bonetto was third in the infamous Gran Premio di Monza with an
Alfa Romeo 8C 2600. The race will always be remembered as the ''Black Day of Monza'', when three of Europe's greatest racing drivers crashed fatally within a few hours of each other:
Giuseppe Campari,
Mario-Umberto Borzacchini and
Count Stanisław Czaykowski. He also finished second in the Coppa Principessa di Piemonte. A year later he came twelfth in the
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts :it:Franco Mazzotti, Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi. It took place in Italy 24 times f ...
, but he obtained his greatest success after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. After the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
abruptly ended his career, as well as that of his colleagues of the time. Bonetto resumed his racing in 1946 with the small
Cisitalia, before moving into Formula One.
Formula One
Although Bonetto had raced Formula One cars before, he made his World Championship F1 debut in the
1950 Swiss Grand Prix. He was five days short of his 47th birthday. He entered his own
Maserati 4CLT in several Grands Prix, under the
Scuderia Milano banner, and drove a works
Alfa Romeo SpA in 1951, as their number three driver. He shared a third, with
Giuseppe Farina
Emilio Giuseppe "Nino" Farina (; 30 October 1906 – 30 June 1966) was an Italian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Farina won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in its inaugural season with Alfa Romeo, and won ...
in the
Gran Premio d'Italia. A move to sports cars followed, but he returned to Formula One at the end of 1952 and had a good season in the
Officine Alfieri Maserati in 1953, with a visit to the podium, when he again shared a third-place finish in the
Grote Prijs van Nederland. This time partnered by
José Froilán González. Away from the World Championship, Bonetto did have some success; he was second in the 1949 in the
Gran Premio di Napoli in a Ferrari.
Ace of sport

More than F1, however, Bonetto had greater success in sports cars. He won the 1947 Circuito de Firenze driving a
Delage 3000. In 1949 he was second in the Mille Miglia, behind
Clemente Biondetti, both drove a
Ferrari 166 MM Touring for
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari (; ), currently racing under Scuderia Ferrari HP, is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "the Pranc ...
, and in 1950 he won the Pontedecimo-Giovi hillclimb in an
Osca and the Gran Premio di Oporto in his own Alfa Romeo. The following season, he drove for Alfa Romeo's new 1900TI model to class victory in the Giro di Sicilia. Then for 1952, he moved to
Scuderia Lancia, and at the wheel of a
Lancia Aurelia B20, he finished second on the Giro di Sicilia. He followed this with a sixth place in the Preis von Bremgarten and an eighth in the
les 24 Heures du Mans, and finally a great win in the
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo, Sicily, Palermo. Founded in 1906 Targa Florio, 1906, it was the oldest sports car ra ...
. He continued with the Scuderia Lancia outfit for 1953; claiming third in the
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts :it:Franco Mazzotti, Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi. It took place in Italy 24 times f ...
, second in the Gran Premio di Monza, victory in the
Grande Premio do Jubileu at the
Circuito de Monsanto and he became part of the squadron deployed to the
Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan (stock and touring and sports car) rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, i ...
: his teammates for the race were
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio (, ; 24 June 1911 – 17 July 1995) was an Argentine racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "el Chueco" and "el Maestro", Fangio won five Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles and—at the ti ...
,
Piero Taruffi
Piero Taruffi ("Pierino Antonio Alberto Taruffi") (12 October 1906 – 12 January 1988) was an Italian racing driver, motorcycle road racer, motorsport executive and engineer, who competed in Formula One from to . Taruffi won the 1952 Swiss Gr ...
,
Giovanni Bracco and
Eugenio Castellotti.
Death
The
Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan (stock and touring and sports car) rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, i ...
, a notoriously dangerous and difficult public road rally in Mexico that took place over 6 days from one end of the North American country to the other, covering a distance of 2,000 miles (3,200 km). It was the last round of the 1953 World Sportscar Championship, and the race started on 19 November 1953, from
Tuxtla Gutiérrez
Tuxtla Gutiérrez, or Tuxtla, (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Mexico, Mexican southeastern state of Chiapas. It is the seat of the municipality of the same name, which is the most developed and populous in the state. A busy govern ...
; Bonetto won the first stage, in front of his teammates Taruffi, Fangio and Castellotti. Taruffi would win the next two stages, although Bonetto remained in control. The third day of competition, Bonetto and Taruffi were close and continued to duel with each other; the second stage of the day, however, Taruffi went off the road in the foggy area before the small town of Silao, about 25 miles from
León, damaging the steering of his Lancia. In the same locality, Bonetto crashed his Lancia against the balcony of a house, ending up against a pole. Bonetto hit his head on the balcony at speed and was killed instantly. Prior to the event, Bonetto with Taruffi and other Italian drivers reportedly marked dangerous corners along the route with blue signs. His accident happened at one of those locations – despite this care in marking the corners, Felice would take a 60 mph corner at 125 mph.
After Bonetto's death, team owner
Gianni Lancia
Gianni Lancia (16 November 1924 – 30 June 2014) was an Italian automobile engineer, industrialist and racing enthusiast, known for running the Lancia carmaker in Turin (1949–55). Born in Fobello (near Biella), he was the older son of Vince ...
wanted to withdraw his cars from the race, but the surviving drivers decided to keep on racing in honour of their teammate. Fangio, Taruffi and Castellotti led to the finish giving Lancia first three places, but it was a success that was not rejoiced, as besides Bonetto the race also claimed the lives of fellow Italian drivers,
Antonio Stagnoli and
Giuseppe Scotuzzi, as well as six spectators. Bonetto is buried in the
Cimitero Italiano section of the
Panteón Civil de Dolores, México City.
Bonetto family in the automotive world
The contribution of the Bonetto family to the automotive world did not end with the death of Bonetto. The nephew, Rodolfo Bonetto, was a leading figure in the field of Italian architecture and industrial design. Rodolfo's son, Marco, continued in this field as chairman of Bonetto Design. As for Felice's own son, Roberto Bonetto has dedicated his career to journalism, to become deputy editor of
Quattroruote.
Racing record
Career highlights
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(
key)
Notes
‡ ''Shared drive with José Froilán González''
† ''Shared drive with Juan Manuel Fangio''
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete Mille Miglia results
Complete Carrera Panamericana results
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonetto, Felice
1903 births
1953 deaths
Italian racing drivers
Italian Formula One drivers
Scuderia Milano Formula One drivers
Alfa Romeo Formula One drivers
Maserati Formula One drivers
Racing drivers who died while racing
Sport deaths in Mexico
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Mille Miglia drivers
Carrera Panamericana drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers